Free To Run Mad
by RiversDontBreak
Summary: Ellyn is the innocuous shop girl at the jewelry store in Storybrooke, and the puzzle that Jefferson can't quite make out. Who was she before the curse? someone important but he can't quite pin it down. He (and you the reader) get the reveal on who she is when the curse is lifted and she decides to find her way home to freedom. (She is a canon Disney character)
1. Once Upon An Everyday

Monday morning, the sky was grey and sullen and the clouds were about to let loose some torrential rains. And the blonde who worked at the jewelry shop walked past the big almost deserted house, observed by a man who observed much of Storybrooke and spoke to little of its inhabitants. Tuesday, sunny and breezy with fresh air that still smelt mildy of rain, and the woman walked to her job once more, the wind throwing her hair around like confetti. Wednesday, rainy, a polka dotted umbrella obscured the strawberry blonde hair but still he knew who it was who walked past. Thursday it was sunny once more and her yellow dress and warm smile seemed as cheery as the cloudless skies above Storybrooke. Friday, partly cloudy and jeans topped with a nice casual purple blouse with the faintest red pinstriping down the length and black pumps which she was carrying in her hand as she walked underneath the shadow of the big house. She always walked past, five days a week, the same time, the same genial smile on her lips. A smile that showed she clearly didn't know who she really was or where she was actually from. Jefferson wasn't entirely sure who she was from the real world, the world he longed to get back to with Grace. She was someone minor, but still somewhere in the Enchanted Forest she had lived and had a life. A life she clearly had no idea of now. How could she? She was happy, and anyone who knew had to feel as he felt, like everyday was a fight to keep a grip on sanity and not put a bullet in your mouth.

Everyday she walked past, and everyday he watched, it was something like eating breakfast or brushing his teeth, it was simply part of the day. Besides, unlike seeing his Grace's smiles through the telescope the woman who walked to work past his house everyday was not so painful. Maybe that's why he had inserted watching her into his daily regimine, it distracted from the cheerful breakfast that was going on in the house where Grace lived, having no idea who he was. He didn't have to watch the loving kisses given and received on the cheek happen in the home across the way where she lived oblivious to his existence. Instead he watched the jewelry shop girl go by. Watched her, occasionally puzzled over what life she lead before she worked selling rings and things and had dated the butcher's son. He had remembered seeing the two go by arm in arm for a while, when she was younger in this world, but that had been years ago, she walked alone now, or sometimes with some girls her own age in a laughing group that seemed perfectly ordinary even if one of those girls was Cinderella, another Snow White or the Little Red Riding Hood and Ariel. She was a puzzle to distract him. That and it was almost like leaving the house and talking to someone whenever she looked up to see him at the window, flashed him a smile and then continued walking by, busy with a life in Storybrooke having no idea who she had been before.

"Good morning Ellyn dearie" came the voice of Mr. Gold as he walked into the jewelry shop.

"And what can we do for one of Storybrooke's leading citizens today?" she said both merrily and with a hint of sarcasm. Gold was decent enough at most times, but something about him made her mistrust him, it's why she did as little business as possible with the man, and what she did was strictly cash, no entanglements, just the occasional sale of something valuable that had come into his pawn shop that deserved a more respectable viewing place.

"I've a pretty gold ring to sell, sadly with the death of Kathryn Nolan" he said looking duly grave "there's a lovely wedding and engagement set to be sold now."

"You want me to sell a dead woman's jewelry?" she asked incredulously.

"Well you might sell it better if you didn't advertise it as such" he remarked.

"No, I can't, it's just wrong" she said flatly.

"And how many people do you think died in foreign lands to give you the diamonds you sell now? Where do you draw the line Miss Carline?"

"Here, I can't control how diamonds are sourced, and believe me ours would be only ethically sourced if I owned this shop" her voice was firm and Mr. Gold gave her the smallest of admiring smiles. She had pluck and spirit and it wasn't often someone tried to defy him.

"And in which case the decision does not rest with you but with Mr Horn" he said with a polite but victorious smile as he passed her by and went into the manager's office behind the counter. She fumed internally as she cleaned the glass cases as she did every morning and after her lunch. Fifteen minutes later Mr. Gold came out with a pleased smirk on his lips and Ellyn threw him a venomous glance.

"Well I guess you and Mr Horn don't care about dealing in bloody merchandise" she said to him as he moved to exit the store. He turned and came over to her, looking hard into her blue eyes which to him seemed too righteous to be real. There was no dirty secret on Ellyn, she was as innocent as a young girl, and he both simultaneously admired her quaint charm of integrity, it also annoyed him that there was this rogue element in Storybrooke. The curse had taken things from her, but it hadn't left her vulnerable. She didn't know what she had lost.

"How about I buy you one of these trinkets and we be friends" he suggested trying to be amiable while also trying to discern more of this innocuous young woman.

"Keep your bartering to those for whom you actually have something they want" she said and looked intently at a spot on the glass.

"And what do you want?" he asked.

"My freedom, which I have, and intend to maintain. I know you and Regina essentially run this town, and while your powerplays with the lives of those around you may be how you get off, not me. I want none of it, my freedom is all that matters to me."

"Like the freedom of being tied to the same job day in and day out" he querried slyly.

"It's a job, my job does not define me. It's how I make the money I need to do what I wish" she answered plainly.

"And what if you didn't have your job?" he asked benignly.

"I'd find another"

"So there's nothing you aspire to, nothing you want?"

She shook her head, though her eyes looked in the direction of the sea. Freedom was truly there. Living a life of her own on the waves. As soon as she had the money she'd buy a boat and sail away from Storybrooke. She might come back and visit her friends, but she'd live life on the sea, maybe bring some with her, she wasn't sure she could man a boat all by herself.

Mr. Gold simply nodded and left. Wishing her a good day.


	2. Never on a Someday

Day after day she sat alone, the cold and dark of the dungeon oppressing her. She had no idea how long she had been there, years she felt, for the tattered remains of her skirt now hung higher than they had when she first arrived. She had went from girl to woman without the light of the sun. There was no telling how much longer her imprisonment would last. All she had to do was give the lord of the castle what he wanted and she would be free.

"Hello dearie" came a voice in the dark that startled her.

"Who are you?" came a voice that had little use except to sing songs to herself to stave off insanity.

"You don't know" he said lighting a match in the darkness that made the maid blink "allow me to introduce myself, I" he said pausing for effect "am Rumpelstiltskin" he added a bow as a flourish.

"How did you get in here?" she asked peering at him.

"The same way I can get you out of here" he offered.

"You've come to free me?" she asked breathlessly.

"More or less" he said casually.

"What do you mean?"

"You want to go home right missy?" he conjectured.

"I do! I do!" she said excitedly, it would seem her savior had come at last. Though not quite the handsome prince she had pictured freeing her.

"Well, it will come with a price" he said.

"Name it, when we're free of this place my father will reward you whatever you wish" she promised.

"No, no, no. We won't have to go that far, all I want, is right here" he said giving one of the earrings that dangled from her ear a tap, it lit up, radiating magic.

"And what would you do with it?" she asked.

"Hardly any of your concern" he said dismissively.

"Oh, I think it is, if I haven't used them as the lord of this castle demands I do, what makes you think that I would part with them to you?" she said.

"Because I'm slightly more trustworthy" he replied.

"And how do I know that?" she said suspiciously.

He paused "you don't, but I won't harm you with those precious baubles that you have on your little ears."

"No thank you sir" she said stiffly "I'll find my own way out rather than risk these in the wrong hands" she said crossing her arms.

"If you insist, though I would reconsider, by the time your handsome prince arrives you may not be such a charming young lass. The wrinkles may have set in" he whispered menacingly.

"If he's only here to rescue me because of my beauty than he's no better than you trying to free me for my magical objects. You may all go to the gallows for all I care, I will find a way out or someone who wishes to rescue me for the goodness of rescuing an innocent victim will come along and free me. Until then, I'm quite content to go on living in this dungeon rather than barter my freedom with a fiend" she said haughtily.

"As you wish missy" he said and then he was gone.

She was alone again, in the dark, feeling righteous but a little disconcerted by his words.

"Oh well" she said to herself in the hollow darkness of the dungeon "better to die alone with principles than live and have a wrong action on my conscience" she placated herself.


	3. Morning Shift

Jefferson sat alone, in his house, trying to stave off insanity. The same as every single other damn day in Storybrooke. He had tried Emma for help, he still wasn't sure exactly how he had ended up back in Storybrooke after that fall. It felt like he had spent a week in the void between realms before waking up face down in his flower bed the same day as when he fell. Oh well, at leat that week had been one where he wasn't stuck watching the same thing happen over and over. Watching Grace go off to school and come home and eat dinner, watching the man across the road walk his dog, watching the girl from the jewelry shop walk to work. He was tired of observing, he wanted to leave, to go out and do something. He took a walk. He found himself down by the bayside, the boats sitting there in the same spot that they always did. He wondered if anyone else noticed that. That despite there being seagoing vessels at the dock, none of them ever actually went to sea.

He looked out at them, his eyes going a little wide as he saw someone had climbed the mast of one of the larger ships that was anchored there. He squinted to see her, he saw the strawberry blonde hair lifted by a breeze despite the cap that sat on the woman's head and knew it was the girl from the jewelry store. She looked like an illustration out of a story book. Not the one that he, and her, and everyone in this town came from, but one from the rest of the world. Like some daring pirate queen taking in the salt air atop the crow's nest of her ship. She looked down, noticed him, and gave him a friendly smile. He returned the gesture with a half smile and something barely resembling a wave before turning away. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Talking was too painful when you had a war going on in your mind.

Jefferson went back to his mansion and sat alone. The next morning, like every other weekday morning, he saw her walk past, and she gave him a puzzled look along with her persistent smile and air of happiness. He recalled, she hadn't looked happy on that boat's mast. Enjoying herself yes, but she looked like someone who knew, someone who suspected that something more lay beyond the borders of this tiny hamlet. That she was thwarted by forces from inside Storybrooke. She had been happy but not content. To fill his lonely hours that day he thought on what might be going through the girls mind. Did she suspect? Was she beginning to remember who she was? What was it that she had had taken from her? He realized he had been wrong. That smile was the smile of someone whose conscience is clear, but not of one who is satisfied and naive. He regretted not talking to her the day before at the docks. Maybe she too understood, but rather than sulk in a house trying to make hats with magic she went out and lived a life in the place she was in. He didn't know, but he appreciated the distraction from his own duality of mind and from watching Grace come and go. He still watched, but his mind had some busywork to numb the pain.

Ellyn went to work, smiled at the man in the window of the mansion, wondered who he was, and whether maybe he was born mute. He seemed a hermit by all accounts, though some had said they had talked to him when she asked about the mysterious man with exquisite taste in scarves and waistcoats who lived in the big house on her way to work.

"Hello dearie" came Mr Gold's genial voice as he walked into Horn's jewelry for his weekly pickup of payment from the consignment of his more valuable acquisitions.

"Horn isn't here right now, but I can get your check" she said as she went into the office and extracted it from the file.

"Thank you Miss Carline" he said reaching for it.

"Not yet Mr. Gold" she said pushing a clipboard with a spot for his signature, acknowledging receipt of payment and an itemized list of objects sold and their net gain to the store after tax.

"Of course" he said and took up a pin and wrote his name in a strong but spidery script.

"In case you were wondering we sold that bloodied set from Kathryn's hand" she said bitterly "I was out when it happened" she added to confirm her innocence.

"How long will you live with your duality?" he mused "all of these trinkets are bought with blood. Why waste the labour?" he asked casually.

"Just because something is wrong doesn't mean you should add to the wrongness of it" she said. "I hate what I sell, but I sell it because it makes people happy. These jewels, they're hideous, not because of any aesthetic flaw but because of their origins. And history is the same way, it's a compilation of bad and people making good out of it. People are happy with the things they buy here because they don't see them the way I do, as the product of slaves and death and child labour, but I can't expect people to see things as I do. So I sell them rings and things to make them happy, to cement the bonds of marriage and engagement, to show love and appreciation to each other. But I don't think anyone would be happy knowing the ring on their hand came from a murdered woman's corpse" she finished.

"Prettily put Miss Carline" he said with a nod of acknowledgement. "My check now if you please, I'll tax you no further" he cordially spoke as she handed him the check and his copy of the receipt. "Good day"

"You as well" she replied as soon as the door was shut she heard a chuckle. She looked over and saw the recluse of the mansion standing there in an elegant deep plum scarf and grey waistcoat, the lingering effects of a giggle on his face. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"You" he said looking at her and then down at a set of earrings. "Not many people talk to Mr Gold like that." She huffed. "But more should" he added and watched the corners of her mouth lift into a chuckle of her own.

"Glad I have your approval" she said and sighed, looking out to the sea again.

"What's your name?" he asked coming over to her.

"Ellyn" she said stretching her hand out towards him.

"Jefferson" he responded as he shook her hand "nice to meet you properly, I've watched you go to work" he paused, that sounded far creepier than it should have he thought "I mean I've seen you walk to work quite often."

She gave him a queer look "you don't get out much do you?"

"No" he said shaking his head as he backed towards the door.

"Well, Jefferson, it was nice to meet you too" she spoke with a smile as the bashful madman backed against the door pushing it open by leaning on it and then he was gone. She puzzled over him for the rest of her uneventful Tuesday morning shift. She was too lost in thought to notice that her sunlight earrings she wore everyday were alterring their hues. If there had been a looking glass she might have seen the dangling teardrop earrings' stones that were green indoors and yellow in sunlight were now fluctuating without the slightest change in light, and now blues and purples appeared in short sporadic moments, like the shade of trees when you drive past them, there and gone but not dramatically noticeable unless you're paying attention.


	4. Magic in the Water

A fearsome storm had came in off of the Atlantic and was throwing rain all over Storybrooke that night. The wind was so violent that Ellyn moved her fish Gigi's bowl from away from the window in case it blew in. She lay curled up in her bed, imagining she was out on a ship in some savage sea storm and went to sleep. She fell into slumber, and from there into dreams.

In her dream she saw herself in the dress of a princess, her ex boyfriend was in peasant's attire and they stood on the edge of the wharf in Storybrooke but then it changed and it was a forest that felt keenly familiar. She saw her mother and father, people whose faces she hadn't been able to recall in her waking hours. She knew she had had a father, but that he had died when she was younger, photographs were all she had and they never felt right, felt like him, in her mind's eye he looked completely different. Her mother was always a haze, something like herself but more maternal and older looking. But here, in the familiar forest there they stood, welcoming her home. She woke up to the sound of her alarm, it had been going off for twenty minutes without waking her. She flew out of bed, fixing her hair in a messy bun and throwing on a skirt and blouse, all the while feeling that somehow her dream had been real and that the job she was rushing to was an illusion.

Jefferson stood by his window and didn't see Ellyn walk past at her normal time. He was forced to watch his daughter eat breakfast with a family that wasn't her own when he saw a bouncing streak of strawberry blonde curls go streaming out behind Ellyn's head as she ran the few blocks to work. He looked at the clock, it was 8:20. She had never been late before. He saw her trying to put her earrings on as she bolted down the street, the yellow dangle dropping to the ground in her haste and without her notice. She thought it had went into her ear. Onwards she rushed, heedless of the treasure left behind.

"You're late" came the gravelly voice of Mr Horn.

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry, I was sleeping like a rock, I missed my alarm" she explained breathlessly.

"I don't want your excuses" he bellowed "this is unacceptable!"

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again" she said exasperated.

"It better not! I can't afford employees who don't take their job serious enough to arrive in a timely fashion!"

"This is the first time I have EVER been late" she stressed.

"I don't believe that!" he scoffed and stormed back to his office slamming the door. Ellyn hung her head. Just what she needed, her boss upset at her in addition to strange dreams that made her question her reality. She took a breath and looked in the mirror, straightening out her hair that had fallen from the bun in her run to work. She stopped, she only had one earring on. Panic flooded her eyes, but she knew she couldn't ask to go looking for it right after having been chewed out for being late. She didn't want to risk losing her job. She sighed putting her face in her hands. She felt someone move the hair back from her left ear and the cold metal of a dangle earring go in. She looked up, surprised to see Jefferson of all people. He gave her an awkward and sympathetic smile. She looked in the mirror and saw the other one of the set dangling there on her ear.

"Thank you so much!" she said expressively pressing his hand earnestly. "I can't tell you what it means to me. I thought it might be missing by the time I got off"

"It's fine" he said quietly "they're very unique, I thought you might be worried about it when I found it on the sidewalk outside my house" he added.

"They were my mothers" she answered automatically, but after her dream last night making her question the life she led she wasn't so sure "I think" she tacked on.

"Well wherever they came from I can see why they're so dear to you, they become you very well" he said moving to the door.

"Jefferson" she said "is there anything I can do to repay you?" He shook his head. "I won't forget this" she emphasized "if you ever need anything, I owe you a favor now and I take my debts seriously, just let me know" her earnest blue eyes expressed her sincerity in the matter and he gave her a slightly warmer smile than his usual.

"I'll remember that" he said smiling as he moved to the exit.

Weeks passed and now her smiles at him up in his lofty window were accompanied by a wave. It was almost like having a friend. Something he hadn't had since coming to Storybrooke. A black weekend was coming to a close, Regina had betrayed him yet again, but he had gotten some of his own back, sending Belle with news of who had locked her up to Mr. Gold. He walked back feeling somewhat satisfied though not happy, his happiness rested with getting his Grace back, and that felt further away than ever. He walked down by the docks and saw Ellyn standing on the deck of one of the little schooners, walking around, she looked pensive.

"Hello" she said as soon as she saw him. He looked up and managed something akin to a smile for her. She ran barefoot across the deck of the ship and back onto the dock.

"Hello" he said his smile widening a little. "How are you?" he said trying for small talk.

"Perplexed" she said.

"About?" he asked falling in alongside her as she ambled down the dock.

"Ever feel like something big is coming and it's just around the corner but you don't know whether it's good or bad?" she asked "wow, that sounded a little crazy, but have you?"

He nodded with a smile "yes I have" he answered "what do you think is coming?"

"I don't know" and she looked away from the sea and to the town. A wave of radiant energy rushed onto her and Jefferson, it's source, the hospital in the heart of town.

"Oh" she said feeling a little dizzy, Jefferson caught her as her knees buckled, bolstering her up against his side.

"You okay?" he asked. He had felt the wave, and he knew what it meant. The spell was broken, maybe soon he could go home with Grace.

"Yeah" she said righting herself and standing up. "I remember!" she exclaimed. "I remember it all now, where I'm from, my mother and father, Taran, all of it!" she said awestruck.

"What's your name?" he asked. It had puzzled him for long enough he felt it was about time he knew who she really was.

"Eilonwy" she said "I'm a princess. Eilonwy princess of Llyr" she was still reeling from the curse being lifted.

"Uh-oh" Jefferson said as purple swirling dense fog came down the hillside towards them.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good" he said. "Take my hand" he said with so much authority that she couldn't help but comply. He jumped into the cold water with her, swimming under the dock to seek shelter from whatever the mysterious mist was.

"Brrr" she said shivering in the chill Atlantic waters as she spat out some water, she had not been prepared for a swim that day.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, her teeth soon setting to chattering. She could feel the purple mist coming closer, somehow. She wasn't sure what connection she had to it but it came, and it filtered through the cracks between the planks of the dock above her head, it had dribbled down onto her before Jefferson could grab her to move her. Though when he went to do so he refrained, her earrings were luminescent in the dark under the dock. Their colours varying with all hues in the spectrum and dancing off the bottom of the boards above their heads.

"Magic" she said.

"Magic!" he exclaimed "magic is back" he said and smiled wide. Perhaps finally they could all go home. They swam to one of the anchored boats and climbed up the side and onto the deck. He saw her convulsing with intense shivers. "Here" he said taking off his coat and putting it on her. It was still dripping wet. "I guess that wasn't too much help" he admitted.

"It's the thought that counts" she said.

"Maybe there's some dry clothes below" he said going into the small cabin on the ship. There was a small closet behind a bed, with three days clothes for a man of his size and stature. He came out. "There are clothes, not quite your size, but at least they're dry"

She went into the cabin and changed and then he did so, when he came out she clearly saw the scar that ran the diameter of his neck and gasped. He crimsoned a little and looked away.

"I'm sorry" she said coming up beside him, still shivering a little as her body tried to regain a healthy temperature. "What happened?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it" he said flatly, looking away.

"I'm sorry" she looked at his face, it seemed he was having a war against all of the emotions he kept inside. She put her arms around him "two are warmer than one" she said though it was not for that reason she was hugging him. He looked so lonely and heartbroken and this was the only way she knew to reach out after his rejecting conversation.

He put his arm around her shoulders. The penniless hatter who scraped by was being comforted by a princess he mused, but what occupied his thoughts was the fact that even with the curse lifted, could he bring himself to go back to Grace. He had left her. She probably hated him, wanted nothing to do with him and all he wanted was her back in his arms. He needed her to call him papa just once more. He'd give his soul for it.

After they both stopped shivering Jefferson helped her back onto the wharfside.

"Who are you looking for?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Who did Regina take from you?"

She paused "No one, what she robbed me of was my dearest posession, my freedom. But this isn't the first time someone's done that, and I know how to survive. Though I wonder now, even if we can't get back to our real homes, if we can leave the town. Maybe I can go to sea after all" she said looking out at the bay.

"I wouldn't try it until someone else does" he advised.

"What about you? What did she take from you?"

"Grace" he said and walked away leaving Eilonwy confused as to whether Grace was a person or whether he meant the act of forgiving someone. She hoped, whether in this world or in the one they belonged, that she could find him again, and talk to him. The man was a walking mystery. And her curiousity was picqued. She wanted to know where the scar had come from, what Grace was, and if she could help him in any way. She let the voice of her bauble earrings guid her as she walked back into town. Freedom had been take from her. But she felt maybe her parents were still somewhere around the town and she was determined to find them. Now that she remembered what they looked like and their personality she felt maybe she could find them. The commotion in the town was at fever pitch. So many different voices crying out for children, lovers and parents. She couldn't take the stress of it all and so she walked to her house. Shutting the door and hoping that tomorrow things would be calm enough that she could attempt seeking her parents. The damp strawberry blonde hair's passing was noted from the window of the house. They were both alone, though Jefferson had much to think on. With the return of magic he might be able to get his hat to work... if he could get it back from Regina. And even then, would Grace be willing to go with him after he had abandoned her. He turned away from the window, the tiniest of tears in his eyes. He hoped Eilonwy was not cursed to remain forever alone as he was. The curse had been lifted but the curse of his own folly remained. He left his house for some air.


	5. Trust Your Head

The next week was chaos, between Regina's magic coming back and the town trying to enact a mass exodus, nothing made sense anymore. Everywhere she went she looked for her parents, but they weren't there. She wondered if maybe they were still in the Enchanted Forest somewhere. And she, like everyone else, wondered if that land still existed. Especially considering as leaving Storybrooke was now impossible without losing yourself and being stuck as whatever ordinary person you were in this reality. She wanted to talk to Jefferson about it.

During that week Ellyn as the people who knew her still called her, decided not to go into work at the jewelry store anymore. She was free to make her own choice, and so she decided she would work at Granny's with Ruby. Granny was busy forging the way as a town leader, and she was very good at cleaning. So she became a dish girl at the diner and felt much better about herself than selling jewelry sourced without ethics from the blood of the dead in foreign lands. After she left and everyone remembered who Mr. Horn really was, the shop closed down, all the diamonds and jewels were to be stored with Mr Gold, who was surprisingly quiet and whose shop was closed the majority of the time.

Just two weeks and everything had changed.

She walked to the diner, wearing nice jeans and a cute blouse. It was a Saturday and she had a long shift. She helped fix the breakfast orders and then fell to the endless task of washing dishes. Her hair was up all day, neatly pulled back in a bun and trimmed with a headband to keep the stray hair off her face. It was near dark when she got off. She walked past Jefferson's house and heard the sound of giggles. Sweet childish giggles. She looked up and saw him hiding behind a shrub as the laughing girl looked for him.

"Hello there" she said, seeing Ellyn paused at the gate.

"Hi sweetie" she smiled "what's your name?"

"Grace" she answered politely.

"I'm Eilonwy" she replied putting her hand out to shake "or Ellyn, which is a little easier." A movement in the shrubs gave away Jefferson's location.

"Papa!" she exclaimed as she saw him behind the hedge by the gate.

"You found me" he came forward and picked her up.

"I see you found who you were looking for" the princess remarked looking at the joy in Jefferson's eyes. He nodded.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I found freedom" she said "it's still not home, and I still can't find my parents, but I did get free of Horn."

"I'm glad" he remarked.

"Could she join us for tea, papa?"

"I don't know, can you spare a moment for a spot of tea?" he asked in his best posh accent.

"I'd love to" she said and he pulled open the little garden gate and let her in.

"I'll fix it" Grace insisted.

"Be careful with the hot water" Jefferson said at the exact same moment Ellyn said:

"Do be careful with the boiling water". The two of them chuckled.

There was silence in the kitchen and Jefferson left to change out of his coat that he had worn outside.

Ellyn knocked on the kitchen door "can I help?" she asked sweetly.

"I've almost got it, but you can pick your flavor of tea" she said as she watched the kettle, waiting for it to boil.

"They say a watched pot never boils" she laughed.

"Who does?"

"It's a saying, I remember my nurse would say it whenever it came time for tea" she reminisced. "I was about your age before I was taken" she remembered.

"Taken to here?" she asked. She understood the duality of her life now, but she didn't care, Enchanted Forest, Storybrooke, wherever it was, so long as she had her papa it was all she needed.

"No, the Horned King locked me in his dungeon for years" she said "I escaped with Taran and we had good friends who helped us on the way" she explained. "We even overcame an army of the undead" she added excitedly, she could tell she had Grace's attention and so the kettle ceased to be watched and Grace heard a short version of Eilonwy's adventures in the Enchanted Forest.

"So you're a princess" she said in awe.

"In the Enchanted Forest yes, here I work at a diner" she said with a smile as the kettle began to whistle. "See, what did I say, you stopped watching it and it started to boil" she laughed merrily and rather than let the youngster risk scalding she poured the tea while Grace laid out the cream and sugar on the little table.

Jefferson had been standing leaned against the wall for they didn't know how long, he had a sad sort of smile. Like he was remembering things that were both happy and sad at the same time. The three sat down to tea and Grace pressed Ellyn with questions of what being a princess had been like and of her and Taran's adventures against the Horned King. She hadn't heard about them as a child, so it was all fresh and new. Jefferson remembered hearing of the fall of the Horned King.

"Thank you for tea" Eilonwy said as she got out of her chair "I need to get home though" she said looking at the dark sky outside.

"Could you come over again?" Grace asked excitedly. She liked Eilonwy, she was kind and a little sassy. She hoped she could grow up and become something like her.

"That depends on what your father says, his house, his rules" she said politely.

"Please papa!" she wheedled.

"Of course she can" he said smiling first at Grace and then at Ellyn.

"It was fun, I look forward to our next tea party" she dipped a curtsy at Grace and giggled, moving to go to the door. Jefferson just watched, his eyes switching from Grace's face to Eilonwy's retreating form.

"Papa" Grace said in a serious whisper.

"What is it?" he asked bending to be at her height.

"She's a princess! you can't let her walk home in the dark by herself" she sweetly chastised her father.

Jefferson smiled "right you are sweetheart" he said giving her a kiss to the cheek. "Be ready for bed when I get back and I'll read you a bedtime story" he promised. She nodded and dashed upstairs. "Eilonwy" he called out. She turned her head and looked at him. "Allow me to walk you home, it's late."

"Such gallantry, I'd swear I was a princess in both realms" she joked and gave him a smile for his politeness. They walked to her doorstep, the six block walk going by in a blink as they discussed the changes in Storybrooke and what it could mean.

"Either way" the princess said as she put a foot to the steps up her porch "I'm glad you have your Grace back."

He smiled and nodded "so do you think your parents are still in the Enchanted Forest?"

"I've searched for them here, but I can't find either of them" she spoke in a more deflated tone than her usual bubbliness. "I wish these had enough power to get me back" she said shaking her head and making her earrings jingle. The lights flared and danced.

"What do they do?" he asked.

"They guide you, and I can hear the voice in my head" she explained. "And I thought you were supposed to be the mad one?" she joked. It sounded mental explaining it to anyone. "It's a trapped essence of sentient magic, I swear I'm not insane" she said laughing.

"I believe you Eilonwy" he said walking with her to the door. "And there is something I could try, could I borrow one?" he asked hesitantly.

She paused, looking up into his emotional blue eyes. She didn't know quite what to think, but she trusted him.

"Don't lose it, don't do anything reckless with it, and don't let anyone touch it, not even Grace. It's not that I don't trust her" she added "I just don't want her getting tangled up in magic, someone might hurt her to get this" she spoke with deep concern. "I know, I've had it done to me, and I'd risk a lot before I'd see any harm come to your sweet girl" she said fondly.

"I'll guard it with my life" he said taking it as she dropped it into his palm.

"Guard Grace with your life, guard this with your head" she said and then froze, mortified as she remembered the scar on his neck. Jefferson just burst out into laughter. Unable to stop for a full minute all the while Eilonwy was apologizing profusely.

"I've learned to adjust, it's how I get ahead in life" he said accentuating the syllables to make a pun.

"Did you just?" she said putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't lose your head at me" he said as he backed away toward the sidewalk.

"Maybe you should stop while you're ahead" she said finally laughing with him. The two stood there for a moment just laughing off peels of laughter. Finally Jefferson remembered his promise to Grace and left for home, eager to spend time with his child after twenty-eight years of torment.


	6. Not of the Land

A few days passed and Eilonwy found herself with a weekday off and unsure how to use it. She went to the wharf, and from there she found herself going up the steps to Jefferson's front porch. She would see how he was progressing with using her magical earring to find a way home to the Enchanted Forest. She rang the doorbell and after waiting for some time she turned to walk back down the walk up to his door. She was halfway to the gate when she heard his voice.

"Eilonwy?" he asked.

She turned and walked back towards him "I figured I would see how you were doing?" she explained. "Any progress with finding a portal home" He helped her inside and shook his head.

"There's magic, but not quite enough, it will spin, but it won't get large enough to let us through.

"Can I see?" she asked. He lead her up the stairs to the room where he had been working on the hat. She looked at the line of hats along the wall. "You did all these in the last few days?"

He shook his head with a morose chuckle "I've been doing this ever since we all got trapped in Storybrooke twenty-eight years ago."

"You've known this whole time?" she asked. He nodded and looked away. "Why did you never tell anyone?"

"Who would believe a madman in a lonely old mansion?" he asked bitterly. "Besides, I didn't want anyone to suffer like I've been, like I still do. With two worlds jammed inside my head, questioning where reality begins and ends. It's like when I was a jumper for a living, but feeling like I was constantly flickering between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest" he said disturbed by the pain talking about it awoke. She could see it on his face and chose to guide the conversation another direction. "So the hat you're working on to get us home?" she asked.

"Here it is" he said pulling it out and showing her. He set it on the floor and it began to spin but not to widen anymore than it had when Regina had sacrificed her ring to fuel it. Jefferson had released the sentient orb out of it's holding place in the dangle of the earring so it could return and not be lost. He didn't want to lose Eilonwy's magical jewel.

"What if I released this part of it too?" she asked pulling the single earing off of her ear and unclasping it. The two lights danced around and then merged becoming intensely bright. They scurried around the edge of the hat before finally going in and coming back out. She heard the voice in her head, we need more magic, it told her.

"He says we need more magic" she stated and watched Jefferson hide his face in his hands in despair.

"It's always that, why is there never enough magic?" he demanded, looking intensely down at her, almost frightening her. "Every time, time after time, this world, Wonderland, it's all the same, there is never enough magic to get it to work!" he shouted. She took a step back and the broadening of the space between them brought Jefferson back to himself. "I'm sorry" he said gently putting a hand on each of her shoulders "there's just been a lot that's happened with me and hats. As a jumper I used to love them, they were my job and it was fun, but things happened, and I hate the sight of them now. But if it gets us home, that's all I care about" he said sadly.

"Don't worry, magic is back in Storybrooke, we'll think of something, even if we have to go to Regina about it!" she declared.

"No!" he shouted, making Eilonwy start "I've been made to suffer too much at her hand, both in this world and in the Enchanted Forest, I would not trust her for anything, despite all of her claims of wanting to redeem herself!" She nodded.

"I'm sorry" he apologized again and he hugged her tight, almost more for his own support and comfort than hers. He had spent so many years alone that to have a friend again felt strange but he wanted to cling to it. "Thank you" he said letting go.

"For what?" she asked. She cared about him, but she also wondered if maybe he needed some help upstairs, his emotions were a roller coaster. Of course almost thirty years of watching the world go by while knowing it wasn't your own world, it could leave some damage.

"For caring" he said with a soft smile.

They sat and talked until it came time to pick Grace up from school. She offered to go with him and the two set out. At the edge of the schoolyard she caught sight of the two of them standing underneath the spread of an oak tree and ran to her papa, giving him a hug. Eilonwy smiled at the tender sight. There was so much devotion on both parties in the embrace. She was surprised to feel Grace's slim arms wrap around her for a hug after she had released her father. She chuckled and patted her hair.

"What have you got stuck in your hair?" she asked bending down and turning Grace around to extract some twigs from the girls hair. She chuckled as she eased the bit of tree from her hair without causing any pain to Grace's fair head.

"I climbed a tree at recess" she said proudly.

"Did you?" Jefferson asked and Grace eagerly poured forth an account of her adventure to her audience of two.

"Will you be coming to tea today?" Grace looked at Eilonwy.

"We'll see, I want to, but there's something I need to do" she said looking distracted as her eyes locked on young Henry Mills. "Save me a cookie" she said and impulively gave the top of Grace's head a kiss.

"See you later" she said taking her papa's hand as they headed back to the mansion.

"Goodbye your highness" Jefferson said with a little mischief in his smile.

"Bye you two!" she said waving before starting off across the schoolyard to see Henry who had a book open in his lap. She came up and sat beside him. "It's Henry right?" she asked as he looked up from his book.

"Yeah, that's right. Who are you?" he asked curiously.

"Well here I'm Ellyn, I worked at the jewelry shop, now I work at Granny's, but back in the Enchanted Forest I was a princess" she said wistfully.

"Cool! Which one?" he asked "did you know my grandmother Snow?"

"Princess Eilowny of Llyr, and yes I did, not well but I was invited to the parties at the palace and we knew one another well enough."

Henry looked sad.

"You miss her, and your mom, I mean Emma, don't you?" she asked gently. Henry nodded. "Is this the book about us?" she asked putting her hand on it.

"Yeah" he said "I was hoping there was something in it about some way of finding them or making it where we could get to the Enchanted Forest" he pursed his lips and almost frowned.

"Here, can I see?" she asked and he slipped it from his lap to hers. She looked through the pages. Some of it she remembered, she had been there for some events or heard of them, others were unknown. Her breath stopped for a moment as she came across the chapter for the Mad Hatter, for Jefferson. She rapaciously read it, turning the pages with a feverish need to know his story, she slowed as she neared the end, her eyes glistening over with tears at the final picture of him sitting alone, forced to make hats without magic, desperate to get back to his daughter. The tear fell onto the pages, followed by two more. She quickly wiped her eyes and closed the book, handing it back to Henry.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"It's a sad story" she said standing up.

"The Hatter's?" she nodded.

"But he found his daughter here, they're together again. It has a happy ending!" he said perkily.

"No it doesn't, I don't expect you to understand, you were born in this world, none of us were. We can survive, but we all want to go home. This is a nice place, but it's not home, and it's awful having two things shoved in your brain. Who know you are, and who you are forced to be" she said sadly. Henry just looked at her, he was going to look through his book for her when he had the chance, her name sounded vaguely familiar. "I hope you find a way to get to your mom and Snow" she said "but don't doubt with the curse lifted, you won't be the only one scouring this town for ways to the Enchanted Forest, we want to go home!" she said emotionally.


	7. Name a Price

Eilonwy called to decline tea, she needed time to think. She wasn't sure she could manage seeing Jefferson without bursting into tears and hugging him as tight as possible. The next day however, after work, she joined Grace and Jefferson for tea. She kept looking at him, wondering how anyone could have endured so much in both lives and still be as relatively sane as he was. He walked her home and they talked. All the while her resolve strengthening, that even if she had to sacrifice herself she would see him and Grace safely back in the Enchanted Forest, back home.

Two days later, after asking Ruby to cover for her for the rest of the day she went out. She felt furtive and dirty, but her mind was made up. She knocked on the door, rang the bell. There was no answer but she was determined to continue. She tried the handle, it wasn't locked. She went inside.

"What can I do for you?" came a voice from the shadows.

"Mr Gold" she said "rather I mean Rumplestiltskin" she corrected.

"Yes dearie?" he said with a smile.

"I need something" she spoke the words reluctantly, she could taste the bitter trace they left leaving her tongue.

His eyes went a little wide "you" he said looking straight at her and taking a step closer "want to make a bargain?" he asked incredulously though still speaking in his calm even voice.

"Yes" she said closing her eyes, steeling herself "I need some magic, not a lot, I have some of my own as you know, just a bit of something, and seeing as magic has returned to Storybrooke it would cost you no more than lighting some candles or that disappearing act, I just need a bit" she said.

"What for?" he asked.

"To help a friend" she answered.

"Any particular friend dearie?"

"One that needs help" she said looking pointedly back at him.

"I see" he said coming around the corner and looking at his collection of vials. "And what would you be giving me in return?"

"What do you want?" she asked.

"That depends on what you have to offer, I imagine you'll be keeping your magic bauble for whatever it is you need the extra magic for, so that's not on the table" he mused "even in the Enchanted Forest you and Taran had parted ways, so there's no true love's offspring to barter with" he said. "I really don't know as you have anything I want" he said, but he looked up and caught the blush in her cheeks fading from his mention of true love. "Ah, maybe true love isn't out of the question" he said smiling.

"Whether it is or isn't which I know he has no feelings of those kind for me, so it is out of the question, I'd never sacrifice my child, no matter the bargain" she said vehemently.

"Calm down dearie" he soothed "though with this little discovery we might be able to come to an arrangement" he said.

"Magic comes at a price, in your case it may not be too high of one. Just a little chip in that imposing dignity of yours, it should suffice" he expounded.

"What do you mean?" she demanded tersely.

"I mean, name the man you love and the magic of true love, bottled, might just be enough for whatever the job is you have to do with it" he said with a casual grin.

"Name him?" she asked. He nodded. "And this isn't some trick for you to have a secret to lord over my head in the future?"

"You'll just have to trust me" he said.

"That I could never do, but I suppose with no risk there comes no gain" she admitted.

"True enough."

"Can you at least agree never to tell him, do what you like to me with the information I give you, just don't ever tell him" she said.

"If you insist" he agreed amiably.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and then opening them slowly, opening her mouth to say the dearest name to her heart "Jefferson!" she spoke as the bell on the door jingled and in stepped her friend. Mr. Gold bottled the essence that had came into the air when she had spoke the name. His face a mixture of expressions which he sought to compose. He was simultaneously, shocked, pleased, surprised and confused. It wasn't often that something occurred that he did not have an inkling about beforehand, but this had not been anything he had expected. First Eilonwy making a bargain with him, however lean it had been, second her having fallen for the Mad Hatter, the broken man in the big house. He rather regretted not having tried to make a deal for her child or something, because true love didn't seem as impossibly unrequited as she seemed to believe as he watched Jefferson come up to her.

"What are you doing?" he almost chastised.

"Your magic dearie" Gold said handing her the bottle.

"What did you do?" Jefferson asked appalled.

"I made a deal" she said taking his arm and stearing him out of the shop and down the street.

"What have you done?" he asked a little breathless from being drug at her brisk walk two blocks from Gold's shop.

"I got us a way home" she said showing him the phial of wispy magic of blue and red.

"At what cost?" he asked, his face nearly heartbroken. He hated to think of her sacrficing herself to enter into an arrangement with Gold. She was so noble, not sullied already like him.

"A secret" she said.

"What was it?"

"If I tell everyone it will cease to be a secret and the bargain might be nullified" she said and then seeing the panic and concern in his blue eyes she gently reached up and reassuringly touched his cheek "It wasn't anything important" she lied and let her hand drop.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded and he took her arm and walked with her back to the mansion. They decided to wait to try it until Grace was home, in case it was a short window to get through. Jefferson picked her up from school and briefly explained what they were going to try and do while Eilonwy went and left a note at her home that she hadn't died, if they were reading this she had found a way out of Storybrooke and hoped they all could do the same. She grabbed her anchor pendant as something to remind her of her life here and then dashed back to Jefferson's. She was eager to go home. Her luminescent magical earrings bobbing and glowing in the sun and sharing their excitement via their mental link.

When she reached his house he had just come home with Grace and he got the door before Eilonwy reached it, his excitement showing in his eyes. He might be going home with Grace at long last. They went to the room where the hat was, she took off her earrings and realeased the sentient magic, the hat began to spin and the orb of magic bobbed in and out, she opened the phial and poured the mystic mist over the hat, it begain to spin faster and grow larger, Grace stood clutching her stuffed rabbit in her hand.

"Is this it?" Eilonwy shouted over the rushing noise.

"It's almost big enough" he said looking in, it broadened and reached it's climactic maximum size of portal and rate of speed. "Take my hand" he said and Grace took it trustingly. "You too" he shouted "we stay together, none of us gets lost, left or alone" he said as he grabbed the princess' hand, allowing the fear he dared not show Grace on his left to show in the deathgrip he gave Eilonwy. The three jumped in, clinging to each other's hands as tight as possible, and landing in the room of doors. Each leading to a different land.

The two girls looked around in wonder, they had never been before. But Jefferson simply looked around and spotted the door home to the Enchanted Forest.

"Do all of these go to different lands papa?" Grace asked.

"Yes" he said taking her hand again.

"Where does that one go?" she asked, pointing to the one that looked like a looking glass. His face went a little ashen and he moved to leave, but he had to get Eilonwy first. She was looking at the ceiling of the room, fascinated and also somewhat sad in expression.

"We should go" he urged.

"But where is he? where is my magic bauble?" she asked looking, waiting for it to come through.

"It may have been spent in getting us here" he said sympathetically. He went to her and took her hand in a comforting way and lead her through the door to the Enchanted Forest, her gaze on the room until the door took it out of her sight.


	8. Home to Harm

They breathed in the deep forest air, Grace could tell there were mushrooms and that smell was singled out by Jefferson's nose as well. Eilonwy simply looked around so happy to be home.

"Where are we do you think?" she asked.

Jefferson looked around, still holding both of their hands, the sun was a few hours from setting and he could tell the direction but as to where they were, he was unsure.

"I don't know for sure, in which direction does Llyr lie?" he asked.

"To the west, it was always grand to watch the sea at sunset" she said wistfully.

"Than west we go, and sooner or later we'll find the sea and from there your home" Jefferson took a deep breath of the wonderful air of home.

"But shouldn't you two be going home yourselves?"she asked.

He blushed and Grace looked away "ours isn't much to go home too. A new start would be nice" he confessed.

"Say no more!" Eilonwy said beaming at the two of them "Llyr will find a new home and start for the two of you" she promisded.

"But we wouldn't want to inconvenience you" he said a little awkwardly.

"Nonsense, I owe you. You saved my earring remember?" she said, and cast a sad glance back at the door they had come through. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and she looked up into his blue eyes, sadness in her own. Out of compassion for her he leaned over and consolingly placed a kiss on her forehead, Grace had ran just a little ahead and picked some mushrooms. Their two hands separated and the three walked together towards the sun.

As dusk began to fall an air of dread and apprehension began to fill the travellers, especially the two adults. A fell howl rent the air and Grace shuddered and grabbed her papa's hand.

"Wolves" he said and sighed. "We need to find somewhere safe, a cottage or a tree or something" he looked around, as if saying it might make some such shelter manifest itself. He was not going to lose the two people most precious to him after so much work. "I'm going to scout around ahead, keep walking west, go straight towards where the sun set, I will try and find us some place safe" he said as another wolf howled.

"But papa, I want to stay with you" Grace pleaded.

"No sweetheart" he said sadly "stay with Eilonwy, I have to keep you two safe, she's a princess after all" he added giving his daughter a strong hug before letting go and rushing ahead. There had to be a scalable tree or an abandoned woodcutters cottage. He passed a well and his hopes grew, surely someone lived nearby. He called out but silence returned him. He began to look around frantically for a path or a house, everything seemed weed covered and overgrown. As if the people who had lived in the area once had vanished. Which was not unlikely he knew.

The two girls proceeded, the princess trying to act brave for the peasant girl's sake. She had tight hold of her hand and they walked at a brisk pace. The howls coming louder, and they could hear the gravelly voices of the wolves talking to each other. Fear quickened their feet even more. Suddenly a large wolf bounded up and landed in front of them bristling and licking it's lips. Eilonwy moved Grace behind her protectively.

"Well, what a lovely morsel we have here" the wolf spoke saliva dripping from it's fangs.

"Let us be" she demanded, frightened far more than she dared show.

"Or what?" he laughed maliciously, baying for the rest of the pack to join.

"I'm a princess, perhaps we can make a deal" she said in desperation. The wolf only laughed more and the nearing pack members laughed as they came up. Suddenly a cry broke the air. One wolf had snuck up and grabbed Grace's leg. Eilonwy sent a hard kick to it's nose as she picked Grace up and threw her out of the closing circle of wolves. "GET UP A TREE!" she yelled, fully prepared for those to be her last words. Then a light filled the clearing, bouncing around and spooking some of the wolves while others tried to fight the large luminescent orb of mysterious origins. It struck the first wolf on the snout and they could hear it's laughter. Grace had gotten into the lower branches of a tree and she watched. One of the wolves caught hold of Eilonwy's leg, sinking it's teeth into her flesh. She let out a cry of pain that echoed to where Jefferson was. He ran back, he didn't care that they had nowhere to go, he didn't care which of the girls it was who was in danger. He had to get there. He picked up a large stick as he ran and bounded into the small clearing, striking one of the few wolves that still remained full in the rear. It yelped and howled and ran off. The other three left following it.

"Grace!" he called out.

"I'm up here papa!" she said and he helped lower her out of the tree. Eilonwy lay on the ground, her leg bleeding from the wolf's bite and his fangs having raked down her leg when her bauble had come to her aid and distracted him off of her. Jefferson bent down beside her.

"I'm sorry" he said stroking the hair, mud, and grass out of her face. He took off his scarf and used it to bind her leg. Then he helped her to her feet, putting his shoulder under her arms, and Grace without even being asked coming and supporting the other side. He turned to the magic sentient orb "can you find us a place to stay?" he asked. He knew it was a guiding magic, perhaps it could. He heard it's trilling laughter and it moved, he followed it. The wolf cries started up again but still the orb moved at the same pace. Eilonwy was weak and unstable and Jefferson's frustration grew as it seemed the orb was leading them through all the roughest patches of ground. The princess tried not let her pain show but she fell into a swoon and Jefferson caught her and carried her in his arms. Not long after though the orb brought them to the front of a worn down hovel. It wasn't much but it would suffice and with some barricades added it should keep the wolves out.

He pushed open the door after pulling the ivy that had grown over it off. The orb moved inside, illuminating the interior of a small little house. Jefferson's eyes grew wide as he saw the tea set on the table and the stuffed, handmade white rabbit in a chair next to Mr Turtle. Had he had time for such things he might have burst into tears then and there, but he was too concerned with Eilonwy to have much care for sentimentality at the moment. He set her down on his bed which let out a puff of sawdust and feathers at having weight on it after so many years of deterioration and disuse.

He checked her wound, finding a new piece of cloth to wrap it with. He didn't know what else to do. Grace laid out the mushrooms that she had picked earlier, looking around her old home. She picked up the old rabbit, putting the one her papa had bought her down and fondly staring at the one he had made by hand.

"Will she be okay?" she asked coming over the bedside.

It took him a moment to realize he had been spoken to. "I think so" he said unsure "I hope so" he said returning his eyes to the injured maiden's face. He gave her hand a firm squeeze. He wasn't a doctor, he didn't know what more to do.

"What happened papa?" she asked as the two of them ate two thirds of the mushrooms. She looked at the scar that ran around her father's neck.

He winced, heartbreak in his eyes. "Do you remember when we lived here, and I had to go away, that last time?" he said trying his hardest not to actually think about what he was telling her about. The memories still hurt.

She nodded "Why didn't you come back?"

He took her two hands in one of his and used the other to point to his neck.

"I'm so sorry papa" she said rushing over and hugging him tight. He held her like she was all that mattered to him.

"I'm so sorry Grace" he sobbed. "I kept trying to find a way home, day after day I did!" She kissed his cheek and used the sleeve on the rabbit he had made her to dab his few tears. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

Jefferson got up. "It's time you went to bed" he said paternally, clearing off the bed that had been hers so long ago. She took off her little coat and his eyes went wide as he saw her arm was bloodied, not badly, but a small cut ran down from her elbow.

"What happened?" he bent down to examine it, using his shirt sleeve to wipe the blood away. It wasn't much and there was no more bleeding. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"When Eilonwy kicked the wolf that had my foot in it's paws in the nose to let me go, she picked me up and tossed me out of the circle of wolves, I think I scraped my arm on a tree root" she said looking at the minor wound.

"Eilonwy did what?" he asked in surprise.

"A wolf had my foot and she came and kicked it so it would let me go" she explained again. Jefferson looked from her over to the injured princess and then back.

"Well I'm glad you're okay" he said and kissed her cheek goodnight, going over to where the brave maiden lay. He sat down on the edge of the little bedroll on the floor and looked at her. She was breathing but her face would contort in pain occasionally. Her orb hung over her head, silent in concern for his mistress. "Don't die Eilonwy" he begged the thin air that surrounded him "don't let her die." He looked down at her fair face, holding one of her hands for his own comfort more than her unconscious comfort. He was not prepared to part with another person dear to him. He had lost his wife, he had lost Grace twice and only just got her back. He owed her Grace's life now too. He thought about her bravery, and how the princess cared for his daughter enough to sacrifice herself for her. He studied Eilonwy's face, unable to sleep, willing her to recover. In the wee hours of the morning he sighed in exhaustion, his mind still in turmoil but some things becoming clearer. He bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Please wake up" he said and then on the floor by the little sleeping pallet he lay down and fell straight to sleep. Sleep giving him rest as beside him the colour returned to Eilonwy's cheeks and her wound began to heal under the bandage rather than stagnate with no healing occurring. She woke up briefly, a few hours before dawn, she saw Jefferson laying beside her with no blanket while she had three piled on top of her. She smiled, gingerly moving because of the pain and putting one of them over him and looking at him fondly. She sighed and laid back down.


	9. Trading Trials

Morning broke and Jefferson found a blanket atop him that had not been there before. He looked over, jubilant to see color returned to her soft pink cheeks. He saw Grace, still soundly sleeping with her stuffed bunny under her arm.

"Eilonwy" he called out softly as he took her hand. She slept on "Eilonwy" he repeated touching her cheek with his thumb. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him, smiling. She sat up and they embraced. He was so relieved to see her mending, to see her eyes open. "I was afraid we might have lost you last night" he said looking at her, his strong blue eyes full of emotion.

She smiled and tried to get up, but her leg was still weak.

"I'll make you a crutch, unless you don't feel up to moving today?" he asked.

She shook her head "No, I want to go home. I don't know if my parents are yet living, and if they aren't my kingdom needs me." He nodded, thinking for the first time about the responsibilities she would be taking on with the return to her kingdom. She would be a princess, possibly a queen. Would she even care to spend time with him and Grace anymore? He brooded on that question as he searched for a stick of the right proportions to work as a crutch to get her across the forest to her home. He came back in to Eilonwy helping Grace pack a little bag of things that she didn't want to leave behind. Bits of her and her papa's old life in this shabby house that she wanted to keep. He smiled.

"I found something that might work, try it out" he helped her up to her feet and handed her the walking staff. It made movement easier but still he knew it would take them longer than expected to reach the sea with her injured. He hoped some happy accident would speed their trip. A cart or a horse or something.

They packed up the few things from the house that Grace insisted they take and with one arm supporting Eilonwy and the other hand carrying Grace's little pack. They progressed for most of the day without incident, stopping for lunch by a cool brook where Eilonwy soaked her leg and they ate on various safe berries and mushrooms. Poverty had taught Jefferson how to find food in the forest. They ate and then went to go on as far as they could, or until they could find shelter. Eilonwy was lighthearted considering how bad of shape her leg had been in. She lifted the spirits of Jefferson with Grace's help.

They walked through the forest looking forward to their journey's end. Enjoying the feel of being home in their own world when they stepped forward. A snap that sounded mechanical instead of like a natural twig underfoot sounded and a net went down over them. Then four men appeared out of nowhere from the trees. They all had brutish looks about them. The one bald with an eye-patch and a hook for a hand, another lean and hard and something of the leader of the band, one was cloaked up with long draggled brown hair and a sharp look in his eye, the third was silent and dullwitted.

"Three, not a bad load for the day" the lean man said with a snicker as he and his comrades worked to tie the hands of the three captives. When Jefferson was pulled from Eilonwy's side she let out a cry, her leg having not been used to bearing her full weight, she fell onto her bottom and after her hands were tied was forcefully yanked to her feet and drug to a wagon, unable to walk for herself at the pace of the large men who were abducting them. The bulky silent one threw her into the cart that the one with the dark matted hair ahd driven over from it's hiding place in some bushes. She slid with a thud against Jefferson's side. They both looked in sickening rage as Grace was tossed into the cart like a bag of flower. Jefferson's eyes were nothing but sheer raw anger and outrage. Were he not bound he would have found a way to destroy those men. Grace scooted herself up the cart so that she was beside Eilonwy and they both leaned against Jefferson. He leant down and kissed the back of Grace's head.

"I will find us a way out" he whispered. He watched as Eilonwy turned her eyes to meet his and there was fear and pleading in them. She had just wanted to go home. This was too unfair. He gave her a reassuring smile she leaned back against his chest, seeking solace in his proximity. Maybe this was the true price of the magic she had expended to get them here. Magic, she thought. Where was her orb? she remembered it being there when the wolves had set upon them last night, remembered it leading them towards shelter. Where was it now? Darting between the trees she saw it following and nudged Jefferson to get him to notice. He nodded and Grace looked back at the two of them excitedly. Hoping it would find a way to free them.

Night fell and the three of them were tied to a tree and a guard was set. The rope that linked the bonds on all three of their hands trailed around to the man's ankle to prevent their escaping. Grace sat quietly sobbing. Jefferson had been tied too far away from her for them to touch and she felt scared and alone without being able to have her papa around. On the other side of the large oak Jefferson's face was utter agony, to hear his child cry and be able to do nothing.

"Scoot closer" Eilonwy said softly to the frightened little girl. She did and lay her head down on the princess' lap. She smiled and with her bound hands stroked the child's hair to soothe her heartache. Softly, as quiet as the dew landing on the leaves in morning she began to sing.

"Lavender's blue, dilly dilly Lavender's green.

When I am King, Dilly dilly, You shall be Queen.

Who told you so, Dilly dilly, Who told you so?

T'was my own heart, Dilly dilly, That told me so.

Call up your men, Dilly dilly, Set them to work.

Some to the plow, Dilly dilly, Some to the fork.

Some to make hay, Dilly dilly, Some to cut corn.

While you and I, Dilly dilly, Keep ourselves warm.

Lavender's green, Dilly dilly, Lavender's blue.

If you love me, Dilly dilly, I will love you.

Let the birds sing, Dilly dilly, Let the lambs play.

We shall be safe, Dilly dilly, Out of harms way.

I love to dance, Dilly dilly, I love to sing.

When I am Queen, Dilly dilly, You'll be my King.

Who told me so, Dilly dilly, Who told me so?

I told myself, Dilly dilly, I told me so."

She finished and Jefferson listened, Grace's sobbing had stopped.

"Sing it again please?" she asked Eilonwy, who obliged. Her nursemaid had sang it to her as a child, and as she sang it again the line 'when I am Queen, dilly dilly, you'll be my King' stuck out to her as she thought about the man around the bend on the tree. Grace was silent and Eilonwy moved herself to kiss the girl's slumbering forehead, but when she leant back afterward the angle was different and she slipped down the side of the tree. Her head on the ground and she looked up to see the nearer side of Jefferson. He smiled sadly at her.

"Thank you" he said moving close enough for her to use his leg as her pillow.

"For what?" she whispered back.

"For taking care of Grace" he said and used his bound hands to help her head to comfortably rest on him.

"How could I do anything else?" she asked "I care about you both very much" she confessed.

"And we you" he said smiling gently "now get some rest" he urged. He looked up at the stars, wondering what would become of them. This was not how he had planned for things to go. Perhaps remaning in Storybrooke would have been the better choice after all.


	10. A Familiar Land

When the captors came to waken the the three of them they found something that resembled a domino fall. Grace resting her head on Eilonwy's leg, the princess' hand resting protectively on her head, the maid resting her head on the madman's lap, his hand gently resting on her golden hair, keeping watch over her, and his own head slumped into the mud a little.

The brutish quiet man sent a kick into Jefferson's leg to get him to wake. He glared up at him.

"Wake up" he urged Eilonwy softly, not wanting her to be treated as he had been by ways of a morning greeting. She moved to get up and he helped her to sit up and she gently shook Grace's shoulders, rousing her from her slumbers. Then the three were loaded back into the cart.

Two days passed, two days in which they observed the orb to follow them, but it was helpless to do anything. They also noted they were headed west. So at least the direction was right, though what slave traders, for that is what these villains were, were doing roaming the free lands and abducting innocent travellers was a mystery. Surely there was a law enforcement, the castle guards had roamed the forest to stop these sort of violations before.

On the dawn of their third day as captives, the morning breeze blew in from the west and Eilonwy woke up first. Her nose waking the rest of her senses, she had smelt the sea. She could sense it in the air. She sat up and looked to the west, knowing that somewhere, not too far away, was the sea. The sea that had mean freedom but now likely meant servitude in strange lands. She bit back a couple tears. They spilled out despite her best efforts. Jefferson woke to the sound of her quiet snuffling. His ear picking it out over the sounds of chirping birds and waking squirrels. He sat up, pulling her close to his side. He had never seen her cry, she had always been the bravest one of their little band. He wasn't quite sure how to react, but he did his best to put an arm around her despite his bonds.

"I just want to go home" she said softly in the midst of her tears.

"I know" he consoled "I know" and he took her hand and held it until it was time for them to be loaded onto the cart again.

"Where is that good for nothing Guilford?" the lean man asked in exasperation.

"How should I know?" the biggest one of the captors said dimly.

"Do we wait for him?"

"No, he knows where we are going, if he wants to miss out on his portion of the payment, than that's his own affair" the lean man said as he whipped up the nag that drew the cart. The dark haired man had disappeared and so had Eilonwy's orb. They speculated quietly amongst each other whether he had somehow captured her magic bauble and left rather than share the reward for it with his comrades.

Noon came with hot sun and a cool breeze blowing up now and again bringing the salty tang of the ocean. Jefferson took Eilonwy's hand. He knew how bitter it was for her to have something she loved so much tainted by it being the way she would be sold as a slave. He felt helpless, he wanted to do something, anything to free them. Even if it meant him being taken. He knew someone would watch over Grace at least. But no ideas would come.

The cart went down into a dell and while it struggled up the other side, the lean slave driver thrashing his poor horse to an inch of her life the sound of several horse hooves pounding the undergrowth of the forest rose. The dell was quickly hemmed in by a circle of guards. Eilonwy squeaked as she pointed to the crest on the pennant and Jefferson took this as a good sign, as did Grace.

Within a minute, after pointless struggle, the three men were all bound. Three of the guards came up to prisoners and freed them. Then the man with the matted hair strode forward, now in the armour of a Knight of Llyr. He helped Grace and Jefferson off from the cart and when Eilonwy moved for him to help her down he bowed deeply, down on one knee. "Your highness" he said.

"Arise" she responded "it's Robert isn't it?" she asked "son of the stable master."

"Indeed my lady, and lieutenant to the Captain of the Guard now. It is beyond all of our wishes and hopes to see you safely home again. We thought you lost forever by the wicked queen's curse" he said rising to his feet and helping her out of the cart.

"I'm grateful for your aid, I had lost hope of ever seeing home again when that band of villains set upon us" she explained.

"A horse for her highness" Robert commanded and helped her up. "And one for her friends" he added and Jefferson awkwardly climbed aback the horse and Grace was handed up to him.

"Who reigns in Llyr?" Eilonwy asked as Robert rode alongside her, Jefferson riding just behind. He could almost feel her slipping away from him into the body of her old life. A life of responsibility and cares of a weighty nature. He sighed and Grace looked behind her to see his gaze on the golden-red of the back Eilonwy's head. Her orb now floating alongside her as she rode.

"Your mother is regent" Robert answered.

"A-and my father?" she asked, knowing he must be dead for her mother to be ruling.

"He died, he was trying to seek a way to wherever the curse had taken you, but he was set upon and his horse returned riderless to the palace, the saddle covered in blood" he stated soberly.

She hung her head. She wished he had lived, she wanted to see him more than anything. She turned her head to look behind at the father-daughter pair that rode behind, flashing them a warm smile.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"Friends, they helped me to reach the Enchanted Forest again and have aided me along the way. Treat them with the best Llyr has to offer, they are to want for nothing. They have suffered much, both in this realm and in Storybrooke" she said.

"Storybrooke?" he inquired.

"Yes, it is a strange land, full of machines and foreign buildings, even the ships don't look right, but it wasn't at all unpleasant until the curse lifted and we all remembered who we really were. Then it was misery."

"The curse is lifted? This is joyous news!" Robert exclaimed.

"Not quite, all of us remember, but getting back here is difficult" she said.

"How did you achieve it?"

"Magic, my friend Jefferson is a dimension jumper, or was, and he crafted us a hat to find our way home" she answered.

"Jefferson?" Robert pondered "there was a rather rogueish jumper who went by that name years ago" he observed.

"Well whatever his past, he is now under my protection and he and his daughter Grace are to be treated with all due respect. You owe him my return" she said firmly.

"As your highness wishes" Robert complied.

By sunset they had came out of the forest and were riding up the beach towards the lights of the Castle of Llyr. Eilonwy's heart soared. She breathed in the salt air and felt the night wind lift her loose hair and blow it around. She smiled. The sound of the hooves of their horses falling on the cobbles of the bridge to the castle on the rock promontory filled her with peace. She was finally home.

Robert went to send guards to alert the queen that her daughter had come home at long last. And in that time Jefferson came over and helped Eilonwy down from her horse. The three stayed together. Guards came and went offering their assistance and rejoicing at her return but their exultations were met with polite and warm replies and their offers were all deferred to the care of her friends. She wanted to see Jefferson and Grace happy, fed, washed and dressed in something other than the tatters that were left after their abuse at the hands of the slavers.

Eilonwy limped forward leaning on Jefferson's arm. She wanted to run upstairs to her room and fly onto her bed and sleep for a week. She wanted to go to the garden and play in the fountain. She desired to taste all the sweetness of home all at once after so much absence.

She looked up, a woman with greying hair in a rich crimson dress with gold embroidery stood staring as if frozen. Then she burst forward. Throwing aside decorum. Eilonwy let go of Jefferson's arm and limped forward, but he could see the pain so dropping Grace's hand he used his two hands to steady her week side as she moved towards her mother. He stepped back as the two women joined together in an embrace. Grace eventually rejoined her father, taking his hand as they watched the tears flow from the queen's green eyes and Eilonwy's blue shed a few too.


	11. Royal Tea

The next days flew by as the citizens of the tiny kingdom, and those who had sought shelter there after the curse, all heard of the news of the princess' return from the land of the cursed. Eilonwy declined visitors, though Grace and Jefferson were excepted from this rule. She didn't want to be plagued with questions when her leg hurt and she just wanted to recover. She spent much time in her room, having long talks with her mother, telling her of the other world and what it was like, and hearing of how things had faired in the Enchanted Forest for the past twenty-eight years.

A place just outside the castle was found and given to Jefferson and Grace as their new home. A lovely stone cottage between the beach and the forest. With a glad and a garden bed that needed to be reclaimed. It had been disused since it's former occupant had gone missing in the forest a few years back. Two guards were sent to help them clean it up and provide them with furnishings to replace the decayed ones, or to assist in repairing the damaged but not ruined. Grace had a room of her own in the upper story of the little two level cottage. She loved it, even though it was essentially a finished attic. She had a little window that looked out towards the forest and she helped her papa to settle in as well. He felt a little awkward, having something just given to him. But then Eilonwy was not Regina, she would not insist on deals, and there was no fear of being double-crossed. He did however fear how little he would see of her now that she was back in her rightful place as princess, and soon-to-be queen.

He would work in the garden behind the house, Grace by his side as they pulled out weeds and trimmed back the overgrowth. It was surprising how fulfilling hard work was. He hadn't felt so happy in a long time. Weeks passed, and he and Grace were invited to dinner in the castle on a few occasions. Though most of the talk bored Grace and troubled Jefferson. He had never seen Eilonwy like this before. She was talking of garrisons and borders and how to increase agriculture and arranging for insentives for the fishermen of Llyr so that the industry wouldn't die out during the harsher months when food was scarcer.

A month and a half had passed since they had stepped foot back in the Enchanted Forest when a knock came on the door to the cottage. Jefferson opened it to see Eilonwy standing there, her carriage parked to the side of the yard.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, unsure what had inspired her to visit him. He wasn't sure if it was proper for her to do so. He felt sometimes like the rest of the kingdom just regarded him and Grace as Eilonwy's charity case. They felt bad for them, sympathised, but didn't understand that they were good friends not just unfortunates she was helping.

"Tea" she said a little surprised by his formal response.

He smiled and helped her inside, calling for Grace to come down. Eilonwy went out to the carriage and brought in two boxes. One much larger than the other and long and not too thick. The other was a squat little square box.

"Eilonwy" Grace said excitedly as she saw who was coming in the door.

"I got something for you" the princess said smiling, "call it a house warming present" she said setting the box down on the table. Grace's eyes went wide.

"Can I open it now?" she asked looking up to her papa and Eilonwy.

"Of course" the princess chuckled.

Grace meticulously removed the ribbon and took the lid off of the box, gently moving the pastel pink tissue paper out of the way to reveal a beautiful tea set.

"I'm sorry, it's not entirely new, luxuries are hard to come by these days, but I had many years of fun with it, and had new pieces made for the ones I broke, and them repainted with your initial" she explained.

"It's wonderful" she said and threw her arms around Eilonwy. The radiant smile of love and joy that covered her face at the girl's embrace melted Jefferson. It made him believe that Eilonwy, while no one could replace Priscilla as Grace's mother, the princess was the only woman he had met who he could ever think of as anything close to a source of everything he couldn't give her. Grace was growing up, she would need a mother soon, too bad the woman he loved was set to become queen and therefore entirely out of his league. He sighed as he watched her and Grace open the second package, which was a variety of teas that Eilonwy had had collected for them.

The three sat down and had tea together, Eilonwy drowning her concerns in hearing the minute details of their charmingly simple struggles, like the deer that came in and wanted to ravage the green shoots of their garden, or the turtles eating the strawberries. She lost herself in listening to Grace talk, while her eyes frecquently met Jefferson's as the two looked deeply at each other, feeling the breadth of the gap that separated them. She wanted to reach out, but the space between them felt immeasurable now with the weight of a crown on her head. She left, promising to resume their Storybrooke tradition of tea once a week. Jefferson watched as the carriage rolled back up towards the castle.

"I wish she could come by everyday" Grace said coming up to her father's side.

"Me too" he confessed as he picked his child up and helped her to bed. He went out that night and walked the beach for an hour or two, his eyes roaming up to the castle every now and again. He couldn't bear this separation, her visit had opened the wound, even just as a friend, he had to be around her. He wanted her company.

The next week on her visit he asked if there was any position in the castle that might be open, gardening was food, but making some money, so as not to live on her charity was something he felt he needed.

"Funny you should ask" Eilonwy observed "I actually need a court advisor, and I trust you, so you could be my prime minister after my coronation, or an advisor on the current cabinet" she said.

"You want me to help you run a kingdom?" he asked incredulously.

"Why not?"

"I've been called mad" he confessed.

"And a little madness is just what that stuffy room of decrepit men old enough to be my grandfather's needs. Every idea I have they want to deliberate on and point out all the downsides, they would do nothing if my mother and I didn't use our right of command to force them to action. I could really use you in there with me" she said looking at him, pleading in her light blue eyes "I understand if you don't want to" she admitted.

"No, if it will help you, I'll do it" he told her.

He went up to the castle the next day, paying a visit to the tailor in the town and getting a decent suit of clothes made on credit. Two days after that, in his new made set of clothes he was introduced as Eilonwy's chief adviser, and the news flew through the castle. Gratitude was one thing, giving this man with a questionable past a position of authority was nothing short of outrageous. Had the land been in normal circumstances, they would have found a way to prevent her decision, but with half the inhabitants missing and times being difficult, most people, except the extremely rigid, were willing to accept her appointment of Jefferson.


	12. A Sin to Kiss

Grace was sent to school at the castle with the other children of noble birth, had things been as they were before the curse, she would likely have been mocked, but many a person of meaner birth was now educated alongside the aristocracy's offspring. When Jefferson's day at the castle was done he would get Grace and the two of them would walk the beach for a while before going home. She would tell him all about what she had learned, and he would think on how he could best help Eilonwy govern when the time came. Her coronation was at the end of next month, and while it was not going to be the affair of pomp it would have been had the curse not occurred, it was still the shift of the weight of responsibility from her mother's shoulders to her own. Which reminded him, he had to get a proper suit made for the occasion. He didn't want to let her down and look anything less than his respectable best as her chief adviser.

As the time for the coronation neared a second event became planned. A celebratory ball, celebrating both her accession as queen and her return, the few dignitaries that still lived in the Enchanted Forest would be invited.

"Mother" Eilonwy fumed after all this was laid forth in the council meeting "I did not agree to this" she protested.

"But you like a ball, or you used to" she retorted maternally.

"I do, but what message will this send the people? We throw a big fancy event while they face starvation in the coming winter!"

"You could give yourself some thought" her mother reprimanded.

"No, no I can't, the only way I'll go through with this ball is if we can invite the whole kingdom. Llyr is small, and the people deserve a party, it's that or nothing" she declared firmly.

"If you insist, though that does rather ruin the point" she pouted.

"What point?" Eilonwy asked suddenly suspicious.

"For you to find yourself a husband" she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can do that on my own, thank you very much" she replied hotly. Footsteps passing in the hallway outside the now empty council chamber.

"Well you've been back over three months and I haven't seen you so much as have a private conversation with an eligible bachelor, so I decided we needed to import what little nobility still lives in these lands so you can maybe find someone that strikes your fancy" she said glibly.

"Who said he had to be nobility?" she querried, narrowing her eyes.

"No one, but it's what's expected" the queen mother countered. "I just want what's best for the kingdom" she soothed.

"And what about doing something for my own happiness?" Eilonwy said looking her mother in the eye.

"What would you do? throw your dignity away on that widower?" she asked.

"I'd throw my rights as queen away to be his wife" she said sadly "but I'm not sure he sees things as I do" she confessed, her mother pulling her into her arms.

"It will be alright, I think I have an idea that will make us both happy" she said sitting down and pulling Eilonwy into the seat beside her. The soon-to-be queen looked into her mother's eyes curiously. "We declare it that any man, of high or low birth, may ask you to dance at the ball, as a way of stating his desire to court you if you are willing. That leaves the choice with you as to who you will talk to again, but you will know all the men who are interested in your hand, and whether Jefferson is one of them" her mother said. "Will that make you happy?"

Eilonwy nodded "At least I'll know that way, not knowing is the worst" she said.

The two embraced and then a knock on the door broke them apart.

"I forgot my notes" came the faltering voice of Jefferson as he came in and quickly grabbed the little leather portfolio. He stole a look at Eilonwy that was full of so many thoughts and such intensity that she didn't know what to think. She had no idea that he had heard the last half of their conversation and was experiencing a mental flurry that he could not calm. He rushed out, nearly tripping on his feet, he needed some time to process what he had just heard. She loved him, loved him enough that she had told her mother she would be willing to set aside her crown for his sake. But he couldn't let her do that. He knew she loved him, but was still no closer to achieving her. He had to protect her even when her love for him told her that she could live a peasant's life for his sake.

He took Grace directly home, skipping the walk on the beach, lost in thought.

Over supper Grace caught her father's sad and perplexed look.

"What's wrong papa?" she asked pushing at his almost untouched plate of food.

"Oh" he said stirring from his thoughts "sorry sweetheart" he apologized.

"What are you thinking about?" she said pulling her chair over and looking up at him with her arms on the table.

He grinned and shook his head "nothing, just a thought" he looked at her, was her having a mother again worth the trouble it would cost Eilonwy. He knew he wasn't but Grace's happiness was more important than his own. "Would you be happy if I found someone and got married?" he asked her honestly.

"If it was Eilonwy, yes" she said plainly. Jefferson's face colored.

"What made you think of her?" he squeaked out.

"Because I think you like her, and I think she likes you, and I like her" she said with the simplicity of an honest child.

"You think too much" he said leaning over and putting a kiss on her forehead. "And I think it's past your bedtime."

The next week was the coronation, and Jefferson attended and Grace as well in the group of pupils who had been given the day off from studying to see the ceremony. Eilonwy wore a sumptuous gown of deep royal blue with gold embroidery. It had been made out of reused fabric from an older dress of hers except for the matching mantle that she wore. She could not see spending all that money on a new gown when her people might go hungry. Jefforson stood handsomely in his new suit of clothes and looked on as she was crowned queen. He felt this had placed her even further from him, though he wanted her all the more for it now. The gulf between them was wider now. And while he was glad that Llyr would have a good and just queen, he hated to see that responsibility settled permanently on her shoulders. He would help her rule, and bury his feelings and hope she did the same with hers. He wanted what was best for her, and he had never been good for anyone.

Two weeks after the coronation the roll of carriage wheels was heard outside the cottage. Grace had fallen sick and Eilonwy had personally come along with the doctor to see about the young girl. Jefferson had a worried and anxious look when he opened the door. The doctor went upstairs while Eilonwy made tea to help soothe the strain on Jefferson. The doctor appeared at the head of the stairs and declared that she would recover, it was just a minor fever. "She will be up and about in just a few days I assure you" he promised. He made for the door "your majesty?" he questioned, for the queen was standing there in silence. She didn't want to leave Jefferson alone in his anxiety.

"Go, send the carriage back after you reach the palace" she ordered "thank you" she smiled at the doctor who just left with a funny little smile on his old face.

"Here" she said handing Jefferson a cup of tea.

"Thank you" he said smiling as they sat down with their tea by the fireside. Fall was coming and the night breeze was cold.

She sat there in a modestly ornate dress. She got up and brought over some cookies that Grace had made the day before, handing him the plate as she sat down, his hand wrapping over hers as he took it, pulling it closer and her along with it. He looked down at her, the soft light in her blue eyes calling him in. He put his hand on her face, bending it gently so that it tilted up. He sat there frozen for a moment, lost in the light of her eyes while she sat spellbound, her heart beating in a frenzy inside her chest. Then it happened, in a swift moment he had his lips on hers and gave her a soft but searing kiss. His hand that had been on her face sliding back into her hair as he pulled her lips closer to his. For one blissful moment it had felt as pure and beautiful as the light of her blue eyes, but then reality soured the moment. He knew this was wrong, that he should let her go, be her friend and adviser while she married a man less scarred and more suitable than himself. He pressed one last desperate kiss to her soft pink lips before tearing himself away.

"I'm sorry" he said ragged emotion in his voice.

"I'm not" she said and moved to kiss him. He put his hand up in front of her lips. His heart fractured at the hurt that sprang up in her eyes.

"You should be" he said taking her by her shoulders and looking her square in the eye. "It wasn't right, I never should have kissed you, just pretend it didn't happen" he advised but still she looked at him with those adoring eyes. He bit his lip, resolved to push her away if need be, even if it broke his heart "I didn't mean to" he said "it was just a kiss" he added.

She stood up, her dignity not allowing her to show her sadness "if that was just a kiss then I want no more from you" she said.

"I'm sorry" he said his heart had broke inside of him and he was surprised he wasn't sitting in a pile of blood from it's bursting. He stood up and walked towards her "can we still be friends?" he asked looking at her through his bangs.

She paused, it had hurt her, to have her feelings played with by such a tender moment just to find out it was the simple desire of a lonely widower and not the love she had hoped for. But it wasn't his fault, it wasn't like he knew that she loved him.

"Of course" she said forcing a smile "it was just a kiss after all" she added and the wheels of the royal carriage sounded outside the cottage and she made her escape to her own chambers where she let her emotions show into her pillow and dreaded the upcoming ball. She would have to choose a man, and she now doubted more than ever that Jefferson would be among the men seeking her hand.


	13. A Ball for All

The next week Eilonwy missed the weekly tea party, and the week after that, only one week separated them from the grand ball, and Grace feared her grand plan of faking an illness to get her papa and the queen to come to terms with their feelings for each other might have mightily backfired. As they sat alone of that Thursday night without Eilonwy's cheery pressence Grace came and stood by her father's chair.

"Papa" she said.

"Yes Grace" he said looking up at her.

"Are you going to get a new suit for Eilonwy's ball?" she asked.

"I don't think I'll go" he said looking away towards the window where the sun was setting over the sea in the distance.

"Why not?"

"It wouldn't be right" he said "don't worry, you can still go" he added smiling at her.

"I wasn't worried about me papa" she explained. He looked at her curiously. "And why wouldn't it be right for you to go? I thought you liked her" Grace said puzzled.

Jefferson chuckled "It's not that, I do, I love her" he confessed to his daughter "but she's a queen, she has to think of what's best for her kingdom, and even if she doesn't want to, someone has to" he said looking sad and thoughtful. "Especially after the last time she was here, when you were sick, I don't think she'd even think of me after that, despite what she told her mother" he said mostly to himself.

"You don't know that" Grace countered with childish obstinancy.

"I don't" he admitted "But I do know that a man like me as her king is not likely to make anyone in this kingdom happy" he explained to his daughter.

"But it would make you happy, right papa?"

He smiled a bit and then nodded "but I have to think of what's best Grace" he replied.

"And it would make her happy?" she continued.

"I'd like to think so" he answered wistfully.

"And wouldn't her, happy, with you, be a better queen than her, sad, without you? Even if you aren't a prince or a duke" she stated.

Jefferson looked duly impressed at his daughter. She had just constructed a perfectly sound argument for which he had no counter.

"I need to have a talk with that philosophy teacher of yours, get him to ease off on the logic, you shouldn't be able to out argue your poor old papa" he said giving her cheek a kiss and chuckling to himself.

"So you'll go to the ball?" she asked.

"We'll see sweetheart" he said taking her hand and tucking her in for bed after reading her a bedtime story.

The evening of the ball came and two maid servants along with Eilonwy's mother Catherine came and helped her to dress and did her hair and makeup. When they had done and the last of the pearls was placed in the simple but elegant partial updo of her hair her mother came up and put a heart shaped necklace around her daughter's neck.

"Your father gave this to me on our engagement" she said "may it bring you good luck tonight" she felt Eilonwy's hand take hers in a grip of panic. "There now, you will be fine, you are a queen, no one and nothing should have the power over you to make you afraid" she said firmly. Eilonwy nodded and her mother turned her to face the mirror. "Besides, no man alive would decline a dance with you tonight my dear" she gestured to the reflection.

Inside the formal ballroom at the palace dignitaries from far and wide had assembled, nobility had brought their eligible sons, scheming politicians had brought their apprentices, and the lower gentry and peasantry that had managed to find something nice enough to wear were simply there to enjoy the evening, a diversion from the coming winter. Food they didn't have to pay for and a night of entertainment. Some young lads who had seen the princess turned queen in the town hoped to try fate and ask her to dance that night. The golden handles on the double doors at the end of the ballroom moved and were opened to reveal Queen Eilonwy in a magnificient purple gown, her ginger gold hair with pearls dispersed tastefully in it and the broad off shoulder neck of her gown giving attention to the large heart shaped ruby that hung from a silver chain around her neck. The violet fabric of her dress seemed to catch the light and looked luminescent as she entered, the soft swish of her skirt the only sound audible in the admiring silence.

Eilonwy looked around her, seeing the people gathered on the balcony that ran around the perimeter of the room on the second floor, the ceiling three stories above that and each floor crowded with people. She knew she shouldn't, but she looked for Jefferson's face all the same. After having made her way to the other end of the room the chief noble present, Ulfric, the crown prince of the Southern Isles came and asked her for the opening dance, which he felt himself entitled to considering his rank. She danced with him, and the ball was considered opened. Those who had no hopes of winning the queen's hand pursued the hands of maidens that they did have hopes for. Romances were kindled and furthered at the event.

She had danced with two princes, a grand duke, and three other nobles. None had really thrilled her in any way. The grand duke had the best political advantages, and his temperment wasn't abominable like Ulfric of the Southern Isles had been. Because with no sign of Jefferson it would seem marrying for love would not be her fate. The grand duke brought her a glass of punch to refresh her when their attention was called away to a chorus of "aww's" and other endearing terms whispered in admiration. The doors at the far end of the ballroom had opened once more, to admit a late guest and her escort.

Grace stepped into the room in a lovely rosy pink dress that accented the sweetness of her young face, Jefferson walked proudly with her thin arm linked in his. He understood why everyone was so entranced, she looked like a doll come to life. He smiled at the admiring throng and down at his daughter. Then his eyes met the vision that stood before him at the other end of the long ball room. Working their way through the few dancers on the floor he moved towards Eilonwy, his gaze transfixed on her. Grace just smiled as she let go of his arm to go over and greet one of her schoolfellows. He walked up to her, hardly feeling capable of trusting his legs because his knees felt weak and his heart was jumping around out of any rhythm whatsoever.

"Your majesty" he said with a bow, his eyes still trained on her even as he bent to bow.

"Jefferson" she responded, her voice thin and trilling, sounding more girlish than it had any right to, considering as she was a queen and this was her ball. But from the moment she had seen him, this had become his ball, not hers any longer. For all her happiness or hopes or any aspirations of marrying for love were wrapped up in the man with the elegant dark navy formal coat on with black breeches and a pale, almost white, blue scarf ruffled at his throat.

He smiled at her, unable to believe that he might be able to call this radiant beauty his wife if he but tried, if he only confessed his feelings and said to hell with what the world thought. She looked into his strong blue eyes, her own pleading with his to save her from a life tied to someone who she simply tolerated, rather than wholeheartedly loved.

"May I have this dance?" he asked as the band began to play a new song. She gave him her hand and he bowed over it before leading her by it to the dance floor and spinning her out gracefully. The two moved in harmony with the music, their two hearts beating in unison as they glided over the dance floor. He spun her out and pulled her back in, close enough where, had he dared, he could have put his lips to hers. He wanted to, but he wasn't sure if she would have him back after what he had said on their last private meeting. "I lied" he said as he lead her in the dance.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I lied. I didn't kiss you for no reason Eilonwy, my queen" he elaborated "I kissed you because I love you more than I can ever say, I was concerned about how your kingdom would feel if I ever tried to court you. I don't precisely have the pedigree to have any business pursuing the hand of a princess" he admitted.

"You love me?" she asked, her bright blue eyes dancing in the candelight of the ballroom which now felt like it was only occupied by the two of them.

"I do" he said as the dance ended and he raised her hand to his lips. Holding it and looking into her eyes intently.

"And I love you" she confessed.

He smiled and danced the next song with her, the two of them smiling, blushing, and laughing all the while. Every other eligible bachelor in the room saw the clear winner of the queen's heart. Most resigned any suit they might have wished to press. The Grand Duke looked on sadly as he watched a worthy woman slip beyond his grasp. He was happy to see the queen happy, but sad he could not have been the lucky one to cause those dimples to dance in the most bewitching of smiles. Ulfric sauntered up to the pair at the end of a dance.

"I'll have this next one" he said imperiously.

"No you won't" Jefferson said pulling Eilonwy a little closer. She burst into quiet muffled giggles before turning to Ulfric.

"I'm afraid he's right, my card is full" she said and her one true love whisked her away into the waltz, the two of them laughing over the pomposity of Ulfric of the Southern Isles. After five dances in a row spent in each other's arms all the men saw who would obviously be the next king in Llyr. Her mother came over to the two of them as they stood at the punch bowl, Jefferson getting her some refreshments.

"Well, I see things worked out for your happiness after all" she said hugging her daughter. Eilonwy smiled at her mother and then at Jefferson who still had hold of her hand. Catherine went to the man who she would soon call son and looked at him. "I never anticipated my daughter's fancy to light on a man of your background, but I have seen in the past months that birth is not everything. You are a good man Jefferson, and I know you will take care of my daughter" He smiled, bowing to her.

At the end of the ball it was announced by Catherine that her daughter had chosen her chief counselor as her suitor of choice. Though had it been proper she would have announced their engagement. The stir of chatter that rose up after this revelation hid Eilonwy and Jefferson's absence for some time. On a balcony overlooking the sea on the western most point of the castle the two stood talking.

"Are you sure you want someone like me?" he asked, undoing his scarf, the scar on his neck showing.

"All that means is that you are a loving father" she said gently. She put her lips to a part of the scar. It almost seemed to lessen with the magic of true love's kiss. She noticed and planted another one next to it. "Hm" she observed "perhaps the magic of true love doesn't wear off after one use" she said thoughtfully before kissing along the scar a few more times. Not fully aware in her innocence of what she was doing to Jefferson. He knew she wasn't intentionally teasing him, but she was doing a good job for it not being on purpose, after she had kissed a half circle, lessening the scar he caught her lips on their way to his neck and kissed her ardently. Wrapping his arms tight around her, holding her close and bending her back as he pressed many a warm kiss onto her lips. They caught their breath, him holding her head as he cradled her in his arms. He looked into her eyes, the stars above reflected in them. He righted her back onto her feet fully. He wanted to keep kissing her until dawn rose in the sky but he knew he had to resist the temptation to do so. They still had to tell Grace of their engagement. And the thought of his daughter helped to let some of the heady fizz out of his head so that it didn't spill over the dam of reason and send him into delightful madness.

He took her hand, smiling as giddily as could be, as he swung her hand. They giggled like young lovers, their pain drowned out by the amount of happiness they were feeling just then. Upon entering the ballroom they saw the remaining food being sent home with the poor and needy. Grace was fast asleep on two chairs pushed together at the end of the room. Catherine watching over her.

"She had wanted to come find you, but I had suggested you two might want a moment to yourselves" she looked her daughter over and with knowing eyes saw the slightly chapped lips and the hair that was not quite in place as it had been when Eilonwy had entered the ballroom a few hours before. "Which I can see I was correct" she said casting the pair an arch smile. They both blushed, but their hands remained entwined.

Jefferson went over and reluctantly gave Grace's arm a nudge. "Grace" he called out softly. Her eyes opened and she looked at him and smiled.

"Papa!" she exclaimed and hugged him then she looked over at Eilonwy.

"My new mama" she said releasing her father and hugging the queen tight. Eilonwy's heart melted.

"You don't have to call me that, if you don't want to" she said looking seriously at the little girl.

"But I want to" she protested. Eilonwy smiled and picked her up.

"I'm glad you do" she confessed and put a kiss to her cheek before setting her back down. "I suppose it's time you got her to bed" she admitted reluctantly to Jefferson.

"Just a bit, it's past midnight" he said smiling at his bride to be.

"Well, I'll keep you no longer" she said stealing a quick kiss before he picked up Grace and carried her home. Her falling asleep in his arms during the walk. He set his little princess down on her soft downy bed. This was the life she deserved, the one he had been willing to give his life for, and it had fallen into his lap in the most peculiar way possible. He blew out the candle in her room and went to his own, his head full of happiness and thoughts of the way Eilonwy's kisses had felt. Three months was a short time to plan a wedding, and a long time to be engaged.


	14. Happily Ever After

Three months passed, the wedding was a splendid but simple affair, the honeymoon a month of bliss in a secluded cabin in the woods. One month passed then two, three months turned to four and in their fourth month of marriage Eilonwy discovered that she was with child. A year of marriage and time for her to deliver was immenent.

She walked around the palace for something to do, though her mother and Jefferson had taken matters of state into hand in the past month. Grace went with her wherever she walked, first princess in the land. And while Grace would never be heir with this new child's appearance, she had been accorded a priviledged status of princess by informal adoption and her, and whatever family she may have when she grew up, were to be treated as nobility. She was as close to being a princess as one could be without being born one or marrying royalty.

Grace held her new mother's hand as they walked the corridors.

"What are you doing?" Jefferson asked coming out of the council room "you shouldn't be up." he chastised gently, placing his hand on her swollen stomach.

"I wanted to see you" she said fraily.

"I was going to come straightaway as soon as the meeting ended, matters of state, pending emergency, are all suspended until after you have the little one" he said leaning over and planting a kiss on her cheek.

Eilonwy let out a groan and Jefferson clutched her arm, holding her up to stabilize her.

"Do you think it's coming?" he asked her a little panicked.

"I don't know, it feels like it, but it felt like it last week" she said before she let out another groan. "I think it's coming" she confessed. Her husband and mother, with the help of some of the other counselors got Eilonwy back to her room, while Grace ran and fetched the doctor. Then the intense period aptly named labour began. Jefferson paced, Grace was kept elsewhere, no need to frighten the young of ever having children as adults with the commotion of overhearing or observing a woman's travail.

In all his life, even when he had been losing his sanity making hats trying to get back to Grace or watching the world go by with two worlds in his own head, never had he felt so close to madness as he did now, pacing the floor. Custom be damned he thought and he went into the room, overlooking everything but her face. He went to her side and took her hand.

With the sight of him in her eyes it gave her the strength she needed and with a few more mighty pushes the child was ushered into the light of hte land of the living. The doctor took the heir to the throne and cleaned him, midwives tending to the queen whose eyes followed the doctor wherever he went, hungry for a glimpse of her child. He brought over the newborn wrapped in cloth of gold, the same that she had been handed to her mother in, and peered at the blue eyed face nestled in the fold of fabric. She looked up from it to Jefferson's face. He smiled at her and kissed her sweaty cheek. Gently smoothing her damp draggled hair. She was the most beautiful thing he had seen in that moment, her, holding their child.

"What is it?" she asked the doctor tiredly, they had never told her whether it was a boy or girl.

"It's a boy" he smiled at his monarch. She looked at her husband, who looked at his son, about to burst with pride at the mere sight of him. After Eilonwy's sheets were changed and Jefferson and a midwife helped her to bathe and dress, Grace was allowed to come in to see her baby brother. She cooed and awwed and was unable to tear her eyes from the tiny sleeping infant for almost an hour.

"What will we name him?" Grace asked.

Jefferson and Eilonwy looked at each other, they had always thought it would be a girl like Grace. Boy names were difficult. This would be the name of a king someday.

"What about David?" she asked him.

"Like Prince Charming's name in Storybrooke" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, it's a good name, and he's a good man, we can hope that maybe one day all the world will be right again and our David can meet his namesake. And also it will remind us that despite the pain we endured there because of the curse, without it we never would have met" she said thoughtfully.

Jefferson smiled "then absolutely" he said bending over and kissing her tenderly "his name is David" he stroked the little tuft of dark hair on his son's head.

"David" Grace said, climbing onto the bed with her papa, new mama, and brand new baby brother "I like it" she said and kissed her brother's forehead lightly. She promised to be the most indulgent big sister any sibling could have wished for. And she was, both to David and to all the siblings that followed him. The kingdom flourished under Eilonwy and Jefferson's rule, and once things were righted Prince Charming came to visit after restoring his own kingdom, and was officially named godfather to the ten year old David. The five other children Eilonwy bore all had almost equally noble godparents and their life in Llyr while not always tranquil was always happy, for they had each other and together, the cord unbreakable, they built a better kingdom and ruled it to the best of their ability and were beloved by their people to the end of their days. And King David inherited their virtues and the kingdom, while quiet and innocuous, was respected throughout the Enchanted Forest and frecquently visited by nobles and royalty of more troubled lands, seeking a refuge to restore clarity to their minds before returning to their own regal responsibilities. All were welcomed and fine alliances were made between Llyr and other kingdoms. Not the least of which being the marriage of Princess Grace and the grandson of Prince Charming, Henry.


End file.
